March 29th

At Sea

On an even slower boat to Hong Kong

When I checked our speed and position on the TV this morning we were going at 8 knots. We are certainly taking our time to get to Hong Kong.

After the craft session this morning, where I painted 2 ceramic mugs without any incidents, I headed to the launderette and settled in with a good book to wait for a machine. It was crowded as usual, but I decided to sit and wait for a washer, rather than risk leaving, and then not being able to use the next available one. There are only 2 machines on deck 8 which reduces your chances of getting one.

There was, as usual, lively conversation in the launderette. There was much discussion about how people from other decks come and use OUR machines (horrors), but how nice everyone on deck 8 is (I had heard otherwise).

However, the main topic of conversation was something about some scandal with the Australian cricket team (with the inevitable it’s just not cricket comments). Both the British and Australian passengers had very strong feelings about it. I have enough trouble trying to understand what is happening in sports in the US, let alone the rest of the world. The only sports that I really understand being netball and rounders, and they rarely make the news. However, this cricket affair seems to be a big deal.

With having to wait for a washing machine and a dryer, soon the morning and early afternoon were gone, and by the time the folding was complete it was 3:20, and time to go to the wine tasting. This time they were offering South African wines. The first 2 were whites, and actually very tasty. They were both very reasonably priced, and available on the wine list. The next 2 were reds, and as I don’t drink red wine I was prepared to just sit and listen, but the wine steward kept me supplied with white wine, so all in all I was having a good time.

The pre dinner show in the Royal Court Theatre tonight was the Beatles Experience, a Beatles tribute band. I am a huge Beatles fan; I know the lyrics to all of their songs. This takes up a lot of space in my brain, leaving me unable to remember where I left my car keys from time to time. I really enjoyed the show. I do wish they would do another show in the Queens Room so we can not only listen to them but dance the night away too. Perfection. It would be even better than Abba night.

I was most impressed at dinner to discover that one of our tablemates had seen the Beatles live in Leeds. That’s right up there with having been to Woodstock in things I really wish I had been able to do.